Bounty (or Almond Joy) Chocolate Bars

Bounty (or Almond Joy) Chocolate Bars are a healthy take on the classic. Raw chocolate mingles perfectly with sweet coconut and almonds.

These bars...these bars right here have made an appearance in my kitchen on and off for the past year. And not in the good way, but in the making-and-testing-and-never-getting-it-totally-right, kind of a way. I've done everything you think you should do to these bars and still nothin' - filled the coconut center with too much maple syrup (tasted great but way too runny), then added an obscene amount of coconut oil (worst decision!), and then finally burnt the chocolate before it even made it to the shell form, and instead, clumped into burnt chocolate pieces. I'm totally selling you on this recipe, right? But then I took a good four months off making it because I pretty much had enough of these guys.

Then two weeks ago I was searching the cabinets for almonds and came across an over abundance of desiccated coconut. So what to do with all this coconut? Yup, try AGAIN. And finally, it worked. A dark chocolate shell covering a creamy coconut center and topped with crushed almonds, is this recipe you see right here. A delicious set of healthy candy bars, ones mimicking the traditional Bounty or Almond Joy bar. So if you're a fan of coconut, almonds, or dark chocolate, than I have a feeling you'll be keen on these raw bars too...

Enjoy you guys.

xx Marie

Serves: 12 bars

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients for the Bounty (or Almond Joy) Chocolate Bars:

- 2 cups unsweetened desiccated coconut

- 4 tablespoons maple syrup

- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla powder

- 4 tablespoons melted coconut oil

- 1/3 cup coconut cream (or the solid cream that has separated from the coconut milk in the can)

- small handful chopped almonds

- sea salt

Chocolate Shell:

- 3/4 cups raw cacao powder

- 1/2 cup maple syrup

3/4 cacao butter

- sea salt

Instructions:

Start by making the coconut filling. In a small saucepan on low heat, melt the coconut oil, coconut cream and maple syrup together for a minute or two. Then add this to a large bowl with the desiccated coconut, vanilla and pinch of sea salt. Mix until it's well combined. Then in a parchment paper lined baking pan (8x8), press the coconut mixture into the pan. You can make the bars as thick as you like. I like mine about 1/2 inch thick. Place this in the freezer to set for about 30 minutes as you make your chocolate shell.

For the chocolate, fill a small saucepan with 1/3 cup of water and place a separate bowl on top, covering the saucepan (this is the double boiler method). Once the bowl on top is hot and the water below it is boiling, add the cacao butter to the top bowl and let it melt. Once it has melted, stir in the maple syrup and cacao powder and mix for a few minutes until the chocolate thickens.

Then remove the coconut from the freezer and cut them into about 12 bars. Place the coconut bars on top of a fork and dip the coconut bar into the chocolate. Place the bar onto a baking rack and let the chocolate shell harden for another 15 minutes. Store the bars in the freezer or refrigerator for up to a few weeks and enjoy!

So, What do you think?

Do you guys like having healthy alternatives to the old classics? Let me know which of your favorites you'd like for me to do next. I'm a huge sweets fan and would love to redo the snickers pretty soon...